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Newsletter Spring 2013Number 87

The Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society

www.le.ac.uk/lahs

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A new history marks 150th anniversary ofVaughan College, Leicester

LAHS Committee member Cynthia Brownhas written a history of Vaughan College,Leicester to celebrate its 150th anniversary.

The College was founded in 1862 by Rev DavidJames Vaughan, Vicar of St Martin’s in Leicester,as a Reading Room for his parishioners, and soondeveloped into a Working Men’s College andInstitute. Women were also admitted from 1880.

The subjects taught there ranged from basicliteracy and arithmetic for those who had little orno formal schooling, to literature, Bible study,history and geography, music, philosophy, andnatural history – all offered for many years forjust a penny a class. In many cases the tutors wereunpaid volunteers, often educated at the Collegethemselves, and it also worked closely with otherorganisations such as the Workers’ EducationalAssociation.

The College placed great emphasis on the pleas-ures of education for its own sake – ‘educationtended to make life enjoyable, and led to

‘happiness’, as one member of its Committee saidin 1882 – as well as the wider benefits to Leicesterof working class ‘self-improvement’. It was al-ways non-denominational, and was open to any-one who wanted to enrol. Over the years itdeveloped a thriving social life with many clubsand societies, among them rambling, chess, folkdancing and the award-winning drama group, theVaughan Players.

In 1929 the Vaughan Working Men’s Collegebecame the Extra-mural department of Univer-sity College Leicester, and then part of the AdultEducation Department of the University ofLeicester, offering accredited Certificate coursesand a part-time degree alongside shorter coursesfor professional development. It now forms partof the University’s Institute of Lifelong Learning.

is available from the Reception at VaughanCollege, St Nicholas Circle, Leicester, and from theUniversity of Leicester Bookshop, ISBN9780901507723, price £10, or £12 by post. It can also beordered online at http://shop.le.ac.uk

New DVD release from MACEMade in Leicesterwww.macearchive.org

MACE, the Media Archive for Central Eng-land, which was formerly based in Leices-ter, has released the fourth of nine DVDs ina series, Midlands on Film, capturing indifferent ways the history, people, cultureand traditions of the Midlands throughmoving image.

The latest addition to the series, Made inLeicester, is presented and narrated by Leicester'business and enterprise ‘ambassador’ RosemaryConley CBE. It celebrates the legacy of twosignificant trading areas that have evolved aspart of the city's heritage: Manufacturing andLeicester Market.

Leicester had a global reputation for being at theforefront of manufacturing. 'Leicester Clothesthe World' was an apt slogan with around onehundred distinct industries from hosiery to bootand shoe making. Engineering also became amajor industry in Leicester with well-knownbrands like the Imperial Typewriter Companybased in the city.

Newsletter Spring 2013Number 87

The Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society

Richard III and the Grey Friars of LeicesterDAVID BALDWIN 4

Greyfriars, Leicester and the Search for the Grave ofRichard IIIRICHARD BUCKLEY,MATHEW MORRIS & LEON HUNT 7

Wyggeston 500 - A Certain Hospital For EverJILL BOURNE 11

Dr Ian Keil 1933-2012 A celebration of his life andworkANNE TARVER 21

Rutland’s Phoenix - the Archives of the Noel Familyof Exton Park, Rutland fully cataloguedRACHEL MARSAY 23

Vaughan College - A new book by LAHS OfficerCYNTHIA BROWN 2

Leicestershire Victoria County History Trust: A newwebsite for local historiansPAM FISHER 10

Project Gargoyle: 8000 more ‘mug shots’ neededBOB TRUBSHAW 24

Latest acquisitions by the Society’s libraryAUBREY STEVENSON 17

Latest reports from the University of LeicesterArchaeological Services 25

Membership News - Please see centre pages forimportant informationMATT BEAMISH 14

www.le.ac.uk/lahsCO

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Richard III and the Grey Friars ofLeicesterDAVID BALDWIN

The Warwickshire ecclesiastic John Rous hasbeen much criticised for his description of Rich-ard III ‘retained within his mother’s womb fortwo years and emerging with teeth and hair to hisshoulders’, but some of his information hasproved to be surprisingly accurate.

He knew that the King’s right shoulder washigher than his left (Thomas More, writing ageneration later, said the opposite), and that hehad been buried ‘in the choir of the Friars Minorat Leicester’.[1]

The excavations undertaken on the site of theGrey friary have confirmed both these state-ments, but how and why was this particularchurch chosen as Richard’s final resting place?There were no fewer than sixteen churches andchapels then in use in medieval Leicester, someof them far older and more substantial than thatof the friary, and the deceased King could havebeen buried in any one of them.

Lord Bacon says that Henry VII ‘of his noble-ness gave charge unto the friars of Leicester tosee an honourable interment given’ to his lateadversary, [2] but Henry would have had morepressing matters to consider after Richard’s bodyhad been displayed in public and his deathproved beyond doubt.

The Franciscans had established a presence inLeicester by 1230, although this is unlikely tohave been at the invitation of Simon de Montfortwho did not obtain the lands of the earldom untilthe following year. A chapel is first mentioned in1255 and a benefactor gave them an additionaldwelling house in 1349, but they were perhapsnever numerous. At the Dissolution their proper-ty was surrendered by a warden and just sixothers, and contemporary account records netrevenue of only £1. 2s.[3]

There is nothing to suggest that the LeicesterFranciscans had reason to be grateful to RichardIII personally – he had not, apparently, giventhem money or land or assisted them in otherways – but they would have undoubtedly recalledan event which had affected their relationship-with the Crown at the beginning of the century.Leicester was the most Lancastrian of towns –several prominent members of the dynasty wereburied in the Collegiate church in the Newarkand in 1426 Henry VI had kept his knightly vigilin St Mary de Castro – but the friars had notalways seen eye-to-eye with their royal overlords.In 1402 eight members of the order and a masterof divinity still loyal to the deposed Richard IIwere accused of plotting against his Lancastriansupplanter Henry IV, and were taken to Londonwhere they were tried and executed.

In his paper ‘King Richard’s Grave inLeicester’ in the Transactions of this Societyfor 1986, David Baldwin suggested the pos-sible location of the grave, given the infor-mation available from known documentsand sources.

David also looked forward with remarkableperception to the events of Summer 2012.

In this exclusive article for the Newsletter,David continues his previous themes.

“It is possible (though per-haps now unlikely) that atsome time in the twenty-first century an excavatormay yet reveal the slightremains of this famousmonarch”DAVID BALDWINTRANSACTIONS VOL 60, 1986

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Two others who had apparently escaped to Li-chfield suffered the same fate there, and theremaining brethren were warned not to speakagainst the King in any way.

It is likely that those who were left were socowed by the loss of their fellows that they kepttheir opinions to themselves thereafter; but thatis not to say that attitudes changed over time. Theblow would be remembered as a defining mo-ment in the history of the Leicester friary, and theprevailing sense of injustice and ill-feeling wouldbe instilled into each new brother who joined theorder.

Nearly sixty years would pass before the YorkistEdward IV seized the throne in the ‘Wars of theRoses’, but there can be little doubt that a latergeneration of friars believed that Henry VI’sdeposition was a direct consequence of hisgrandfather’s usurpation - a divine sentence vin-dicating the stance taken by their deceased breth-ren. The House of York would have had fewmore committed supporters in the years after1461, and an alternative scenario is that the friarsoffered to bury Richard III because they regard-ed him as their king.

The only factors that could be seen to castdoubt on this argument are Bacon’s remark ‘thatthe religious people themselves [the friars] (beingnot free from the humours of the vulgar) ne-glected it [the body]; wherein nevertheless theydid not then incur any man’s blame orcensure’;[4] and the apparently hasty, undignified

“The friars had not alwaysseen eye-to-eye withtheir royal overlords. In1402 eight members ofthe order and a master ofdivinity still loyal to thedeposed Richard II wereaccused of plottingagainst his Lancastriansupplanter Henry IV, andwere taken to Londonwhere they were triedand executed.”

The statue in bronze of Richard III by James WalterButler RA was unveiled on 31 July 1980 by PrincessAlice, Duchess of Gloucester. The statue was commis-sioned and paid for by members of the Richard IIISociety.

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manner of the King’s burial, wedged into a gravethat was too small for even his slight framewithout a coffin.

But Bacon’s source, whatever it was, is lost tous, and the friars may have been constrained bylack of money and the need to bury the corpsequickly after it had been exposed for two days inhigh summer.

Ironically, it was Henry VII who provided thefunds for a memorial to his late adversary tenyears later in 1495.

References

1. B.M. MS. Cotton Vesp. A. XII (‘Historia Johannis RossiWarwicensis de Regibus Anglie’ ff. 131v-136r. Translatedby Alison Hanham in(Oxford, 1985), pp. 120-1.

2. Francis Bacon,ed. J. Weinberger (1996), p. 27.

3. The little that is known of the history of the friary maybe found in

vol. 2, ed. W.G. Hoskins (London & Oxford, 1954),pp. 33-4.

4. Bacon, p. 27.

The Facial Reconstruction

Richard III’s facial reconstruction, carried out by Caroline Wilkinson from Dundee University, and a conparison withthe familiar portrait of the king. A further photograph of the facial reconstruction is reproduced on Page 9(Photographs courtesy of ULAS)

Leicester Abbey: medieval history, archaeology and manuscript studiesEdited by Joanna Story, Jill Bourne and Richard Buckley, 2006Produced to mark the 150th anniversary of the Society.

Hard back with dust jacket, 314 pages. Many illustrations, some in colourISBN 0 9542388 1 8Non-members can purchase a copy at £25 (plus £5 post and packing in theUK)

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Greyfriars, Leicester and the Search forthe Grave of Richard IIIRICHARD BUCKLEY, MATHEW MORRIS, LEON HUNT (ULAS)

On Monday 4 February, following extensivescientific analysis, the University of Leicesterannounced that the human remains found inthe Greyfriars dig in August/September 2012were, beyond reasonable doubt, those of Ri-chard III the last Plantagenent King of Eng-land. The Chairman of the Society’s Committee, andlead archaeologist for the project, Richard Buck-ley, had the honour of imparting this informationat the packed press conference. He says: ‘theatmosphere was absolutely electric. Over a hun-dred press representatives were present, rangingfrom the Melton Times to the Washington Postand it was absolutely amazing to get a cheer at theend!’.

The archaeological evidence tells us that Skele-ton 1 (his official designation) was buried in thesouth-west corner of the church choir, just infront of the southern choir stall.

Jill Atherton’s excellent reconstructions of thechurch are based on the archaeological evidence,with red staining on the window fragments re-covered suggesting that the east end was possiblybuilt of brick. The grave appears to have beenhastily dug and was not quite long enough, leav-ing Skeleton 1’s torso twisted and the headpropped up in one corner of the grave. Therewas no evidence for a coffin, shroud or clothingas might be expected for a high-status burial.This fits with contemporary accounts that Rich-ard III was buried with little pomp or ceremonyin the choir of the Friars Minor, Leicester.

The skeleton was in good condition and, apartfrom the hands and sternum, remained in articu-lation. The feet were missing, almost certainly asa result of later disturbance; and of course, theevidence for scoliosis, or curvature of the spine,can be plainly seen. An iron object was foundbeneath two of the vertebrae. Although initial

Skeleton 1, now identified as King Richard III

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x-rays of this heavily corroded object suggestedthe presence of a barb, indicating that it wasperhaps an arrowhead, more detailed analysis hasnow confirmed that it is most likely to be aRoman nail disturbed from earlier levels. Thedisposition of the arms (right hand over left,placed precariously on the right pelvis) is unusual,raising the possibility that the hands could havebeen tied at the time of interment, although thisis impossible to prove through scientific study asbindings would have decayed and would notleave any trace on the skeleton.

Radiocarbon dating, carried out by the Univer-sities of Glasgow and Oxford, show that Skele-ton 1 had a high protein diet, including significantamounts of seafood, meaning that the individualwas likely to be high status. Both laboratoriesproduced results in very close agreement andconsistent with the contention that the individualcould have died in 1485. The modelled resultsfrom Glasgow placed the date of death betweenAD 1475 and 1530 whilst those from Oxfordsuggested a date between 1456 and 1520.

man. However, his disability would have reducedhis apparent height significantly and raised hisright shoulder higher than his left. This is entirelyconsistent with the little we know about RichardIII’s physical appearance. He was 32 when hedied.

Ten wounds have now been identified on theskeleton, of which eight are on the skull, all ofwhich suggest that by the time they were inflict-ed, Richard was no longer wearing a helmet. Alarge hole on the back of the skull (1) could onlyhave been caused by a large, very sharp bladewielded with some force, perhaps a halberd orsomething similar, which took off a slice of bone.An injury like this would have been fatal. Alsoon the back of the skull, another wound (2), alsolikely to have been fatal, suggested thepenetration of a sword or similar bladed weaponto a depth of 10.5cm.

The OsteologyOsteological analysis of Skeleton 1 by Dr JoAppleby has determined that the individual ismale, in his late 20s to late 30s (most likely30-33), with a gracile or feminine build. He hadsevere idiopathic adolescent onset scoliosis, oc-curring for unknown reasons after the age of 10.This may have been progressive, continuing toget worse as he got older. This would have putadditional strain on the heart and lungs and mayhave caused some shortness of breath and pain.Unaffected by scoliosis, the man would havestood around 5ft 8in (1.61m) tall. This wouldhave been above average height for a medieval

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On the top of the skull was evidence for a sharpblow from a pointed weapon on the crown of thehead with enough force to split the inside of theskull, leaving two small flaps of bone (3). Inaddition, there were three non-fatal wounds onthe skull, removing thin slices of bone, togetherwith a cut on the lower jaw and a rectangular holein right cheek, perhaps caused by a dagger orsimilar implement. Those to the jaw and cheek,plus a cut on the rib and one on the pelvis, mayindicate insult injuries inflicted after death, thelatter indicating a stab wound to the right buttock.

The DNADr Turi King has found a match betweenmitochondrial DNA from Skeleton 1 and twodirect descendants of Richard III’s sister Anne ofYork on the female line.

The genealogical link between the two modern-day descendants, Michael Ibsen and a secondperson who wishes to remain anonymous, andRichard III has also been verified.

Wound 1 (above) and Wound 2 (Below)

Wound 3 (Above and below)

The Facial ReconstructionRichard III’s facial reconstruction carried out byCaroline Wilkinson from Dundee University:

(A further photograph of the facial reconstructionis reproduced on Page 6)

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New local history website launchedwww.leicestershirehistory.co.ukPAM FISHER

A new website has been launched by Leices-tershire VCH Trust, containing a series ofresearch guides that will help local historiansand VCH volunteers discover more about thehistory of their parishes.

The section on the history of our communities includesinformation uncovered during VCH research

We are grateful for a donation from the Grocers’Charity, which has enabled us to produce thisresource. If you find the information useful, or ifyou think we have forgotten something, thenplease let us know through the comments sectionon the website, or by email to leicsvch@le.ac.uk.

The website also includes short articles aboutaspects of Leicestershire’s history, including infor-mation that has been discovered during the courseof research for further Leicestershire volumes inthe Victoria County History series. There is also asection detailing how you can help this project, asvolunteers are currently being sought to collectspecific information for us from trade directories,most of which are available online.

Completing the Victoria County History of Leicester-shire is an ambitious, but long awaited, project.Work on parish histories is progressing well, andwe are very grateful for the help and financialsupport we have received from the LeicestershireArchaeological and Historical Society and its mem-bers. We now have transcripts of around 100 pro-bate inventories available through the VCHwebsite, and hope to post several parish historysections online during 2013.

The first five research guides cover Exploringyour parish church (interpreting the building,architecture, fittings and documentary sources),farming and enclosure, 1480-1790, Sources forthe history of farms and farming from 1790, thehistory of your local school and maps before theOrdnance Survey.

Each of these guides leads readers through thesources available, including where they can befound, what they contain and how to interpretthem. Photographs of some of the documentswill be added shortly.

www.leicestershirehistory.co.uk

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A Certain Hospital For EverJILL BOURNE

This year is the quincentenary anniversary ofthe founding of William Wyggeston’s

– his almshouse - which becameknown as .

At the time of its founding the term ‘hospital’carried a subtly different meaning from today;essentially it meant offering hospitality to a guestand was usually applied to a charitable institutionfor the old or destitute, or for the needy youngand vulnerable.

William Wyggeston (1467-1536) came from afamily of prosperous Leicester wool merchantswho had arrived in the town in the thirteenth andfourteenth centuries as economic migrants fromthe nearby village of Wigston (Magna). The fam-ily thrived through their business of wool mer-chants becoming over the years the wealthiestfamily in the town. William was not only therichest member of the family but was perhaps therichest single individual the town has ever bred.He bought wool locally and sold it on, still as rawwool, at markets around the country and on thecontinent through the Staple port of Calais. Wil-liam, his father, and his cousin Roger, were allmerchants of the Staple with William reputed tohave served as mayor of the Staple on four occa-sions.

The family were also prominent in the gov-ernance of the town. William’s grandfather, fa-ther, and cousin, all served terms as mayor andWilliam in his turn was twice mayor. The men inthe family were all members of the Gild Mer-chant, an ancient institution which regulated thetrade in the town and conferred on its membersthe freedom of the city.

England at this time was a Catholic countryand Christianity in all its many manifestationswould have been as dominant in the town as anyother aspect of daily life and work. The divisionbetween the secular and the sacred was inter-twined intrinsically, with everyone, at least out-wardly professing the same faith. Christianity wasthe only religion and Roman Catholicism was its

sole manifestation, with the doctrine of salvationby good works being a core belief. William wouldhave had the Roman Catholic mind of his timeand at least part of his motivation in establishinghis alms house would almost certainly have beento ensure that after his death his journey throughpurgatory was swift as he went to join his lord inheaven. As a fabulously wealthy man Williamwas in a position to use his money to save his soulbut this does not necessarily preclude his being aman of humane conscience who sought to bringcomfort to the needy at the end of their days.

The founding of the Hospital

To secure the future of his domus elemosinaWilliam purchased considerable quantities ofland across Leicestershire and neighbouringcounties and it is largely these same endow-ments that underpin the work of Wyggeston’sHospital to this day. The introductory words ofthe Deed of Endowment of the hospital, drawnup by William himself, indicate a modest, al-most humble person. He states that he hasestablished the hospital so that ‘the blind, lame,decrepit, paralytic or maimed in their limbs, and idiotswanting the natural senses, that they be peaceable’.

The land for the hospital was purchased in1512 from William Grene in the parish of StMartin. The original plot which was 132 feet ran

The Hospital from John Nichols, History andAntiquities of the County of Leicester (1795-1815)

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between Friar Lane and land belonging to aRichard Lowth; the land adjacent to it was ownedby the Corpus Christi Guild, and there were twomore plots towards St Martin’s churchyard. Wil-liam was now ready to build and in 1518 thealmshouse was ready to receive its first ‘inmates’– twelve poor men and twelve poor women.

The building was in St Martin’s West frontingon to a passage at the west end of the churchyardleading from Peacock Lane to Town Hall Lane.It was a long two storied timber-framed buildingwith a stone parapet and buttresses, all covered inplaster. There was a small gothic chapel at thesouth end of the building with the master’s housesited at the northern end: this was enlarged in1730 by the addition of another storey.

The care of the souls of the inmates wasconsidered to be as important as their bodies. Tothis end the endowment provided for two chap-lains – a Master and a Confrater - who werecharged to care for the day to day spiritual needsof the inmates and to say masses for their soulswhilst living and when dead. The Confrater’s jobincluded daily contact with the inmates to see thatthey attended services daily at St Martin’s,evening prayers in the Hospital chapel, and totrain them in the ‘learning of godliness, so they shallendeavour themselves to lyve godley’

There were twelve rooms on the ground floorfor the male hospitallers, and a kitchen and anurse’s room. On the upper floor there were ninerooms for the women, plus a kitchen and the‘keepers’ rooms. The ‘keepers’ were two of themore able women whose task was to care for themore needy inmates. Their duties were set out inthe statutes in some detail:

They shall make the beddes of the weake,lame and blynde, they shall keepe all theirechambers cleane, they and get them dryncke,they shall washe theire clothes, make theirefires in their kitchyns at due and convenientseasons , light theire lampe and kepe it burn-ing at the tyme appointed, they shalle kepe notonlie the kitchyn but also other places to whichthe poore men and the poore women womendoe resort swept and cleane from all filthe andfrom every thinge whiche maye brede any evellor unwholesome aire’.

For these services the keepers received 8d aweek, the same as the men, who had no duties atall! The other poor women received 7d a weekand two loads of wood and three loads of coal.The allowance for the men was eights loads ofwood and three loads of coal! The reason for thisdiscrepancy is not immediately obvious.

The statutes also laid down precise rules aboutwhom the Master could select as residents. Toqualify a would-be inmate must not be married orhave relatives who could offer support: they mustall be ‘sorely needing help’. They must be natives ofLeicester or a place where the Foundation ownedland. No one could be admitted who was suffer-ing from:

The leprosie, French pocke, the falling sick-ness, or any other fowle and lothesome disease.They must not be ‘swearers’, ‘cursed speak-ers’, ‘drunkardes’, ‘haunters of taverns’,‘stealers’, ‘tale tellers’, ‘brawlers’, ‘quarrelpuckers’, ‘common beggers’, carders’, ‘ keepersof dogges’, or ‘hawkers within or without thehospital’.

The end of William Wyggeston’s Hospital onthe St Martin’s site 1875

There was an outcry from many quarters whenthe demolition of the old Hospital was proposed.The members and committee of the Leicester-shire Architectural and Archaeological Society(the forerunner of the Leicestershire Archaeolog-ical and Historical Society) fought hard to save iteven to the extent of attempting to purchase itthemselves. This was rejected out of hand withno reason given. The letter reads: ‘The Governorscannot hold out any expectation of their entertaining an

The Hospital from St Martin’s Churchyard, c1812

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application to purchase the buildings’. The contents ofthe Hospital and the valuable building materialsof which it was constructed were auctioned andthe buildings demolished in a great rush. In animpassioned note in the Transactions of the Leicester-shire Architectural and Archaeological Society 1875-6Thomas North wrote:

‘We have thus to record the destruction -without as most of us think an adequatereason – one of the very few ancient build-ings standing in Leicester; a building which,erected in his [William’s] own age, and mostprobably from designs approved by himself,should have been preserved as a memorial tothe munificence and charity of one of Leices-ter’s greatest benefactors. And what will thetrustees get in place of the old Hospital – aproposed modern gymnasium, at a consider-able cost, and ninety-two pounds!!’

It cannot be denied that William used his ex-treme wealth to save his own soul but that wasthe Catholic custom and practice of the time.However, and this is the salient point, he used hisgreat good fortune to give food, comfort and a

roof over their heads to hundreds of poor menand women at the end of what for many of themwould have been hard and impoverished lives.And not only were William’s gifts free, each ofthe hospitallers received a pension for life and adecent burial in their own graveyard.

To this day the estates with which Williamendowed his Hospital still provide revenue fromwhich enable the spirit and the work of ‘A certainHospital for ever’ to continue to thrive and grow500 years later.

The Free Grammar School

Within months of William’s death in 1536 hiswidow Agnes and his brother Thomas, who werethe trustees of his estate, began the process offounding the Free Grammar School. This musthave been a project that William had been work-ing on already for it to be considered so soonafter his death. After this swift start there was along period of time during which nothing seemsto have happened until in 1572 we read of theappointment of the first schoolmaster, John Pott.

The school’s first home was the church of StPeter (which stoodf where John Lewis nowstands) which was in an advanced state of decay.By 1572 the lead had been stripped from the roofand all the timbers removed except for the southaisle which is where the school was housed. In1573 the church was dismantled completely anda new school built in High Cross Street behindthe Wyggeston Hospital buildings. Stone andtimber was re-used from the church and theschool roof constructed from its roof timbers.

With a year the building was ready for the boysto move in to what is regarded as one of the finestand most important ancient buildings in the town.William’s name carries on in the Wyggeston QueenElizabeth I VIth Form College. The name of thegirl’s school has been abandoned and is nowknown as Regent College.

by Jill Bourne can bepurchased from most booksellers in the town, the City Infor-mation Bureau, Gallowtree Gate, and from all Museumbookshops at £8.95p. Or, at £10.00 (including p&p) directlyfrom:

The Clerk to the Governors, Wyggeston’s HospitalHinckley Road, Leicester LE3 0UX

William Wyggeston, The Clocktower, Leicester.(Photograph - Barry Kendall)

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Membership NewsAN IMPORTANT MESSAGE TO ALL MEMBERS

Let me introduce myself as your new Mem-bership Secretary. I have been helping to runthe Society’s membership database for thelast year or so, and was formally elected at theAnnual General Meeting in 2012.

I have worked as an archaeologist in Leicester-shire for the last 23 years, and have been a Societymember for most of that time. My archaeologicalinterests have mostly been in the prehistoric andalso in the County’s landscape and how its usehas changed. I have developed expertise in vari-ous land survey techniques and also in the designand development of databases – and this is whereI am of use to the Society.

You may be aware of the deficit between theSociety’s income and expenditure account in re-cent years- a deficit of £6,974 for 2012, and£5,621 for 2011. These have been made good bytaking money from our capital reserves, the John

Willet bequest. This can only last so long, andtherefore we must find other ways to help in-crease our income and/or decrease our expendi-ture.

Most of you will have either had formal orverbal reminders of unpaid subscriptions withyour copy of Transactions 86. Many thanks tothose of you who have now paid your balancesand increased your standing orders. If youhaven’t either increased your standing order tothe new rates for the 1st May, and paid yourbalance, please do both as soon as possible!

I have completed Gift Aid declarations forless than one quarter of the membership. Ifyou are a UK tax payer it would be very beneficialfor the Society to have your declaration as thiscan significantly increase our income from yourmembership subscription.

Please look at the address label on the envelopeyour newsletter came in. At the top you will seeyour membership number and then ‘GAD’. Ifthis is followed by a date, then we have a signedGift Aid declaration from you on that date. Ifthere is no date, we have no signed current decla-ration from you.

Please complete all the membership sections onthe form on the following page (if we have noGift Aid declaration, we most probably have noData Protection consent form either). Please alsoinclude your email address as this means we cancommunicate if necessary more quickly and morecheaply than by post. If you have access to ascanner, it is quite acceptable to complete theforms, scan, and return to me digitally rather thanby post.

If you no longer have your envelope, contact meand I will let you know what paper work I havefor your membership.

Looking forward to hearing from you!!

Matthew BeamishHon. Membership Secretarymgb3@le.ac.uk

2012 2011IncomeSubscriptions £6,264 £7,353Literature Sales £3,018 £3,471Interest £19 £176Special Events £2,457 £0Investment Income £602 £594

£12,360 £11,594ExpenditurePublications £14,183 £13,197Lecture Expenses £306 £347Library £412 £191Society Subscriptions £170 £385Insurance £992 £938Administration £1,566 £1,500Rent £130 £30Donations £0 £200Special Events £1,575 £427

£19,334 £17,215

Income - Expenditure -£6,974 -£5,621

John Willet Bequest £7,000 £6,000Surplus £26 £379Balance b/forward £14,308 £13,929Balance c/forward £14,334 £14,308

THE LEICESTERSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL &HISTORICAL SOCIETY

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Signature/s:…………………………………..………………………..…….. Date: ………..…..Please notify LAHS of any changes in your details, or if you wish to cancel your declaration,or you no longer

pay sufficient tax on your income and/or capital gains.

Mr. Matthew Beamish,Hon. Membership Secretary,

LAHS, c/o ULAS,School of Archaeology and Ancient History,

University of Leicester, University Road,Leicester LE1 7RH

Tel 0116 2525234 Email mgb3@le.ac.uk

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THE LEICESTERSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL &HISTORICAL SOCIETY

THE GUILDHALL, GUILDHALL LANE, LEICESTER. LE1 5FQ.Registered Charity No 503240

President:

Standing Order Mandate

To: ………………………………………………....Bank/Building Society

Address: …………………………….…………………………………………….

…………………………….…………………………………………….

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Post Code: ……………………………………….

Please pay Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society (LAHS):

£…………. now, on the 1st May next, and annually thereafter, to their bank at:(delete as applicable)

Nat West BankLeicester Customer Service Centre,11 Western Boulevard,Bede Island,Leicester. LE2 7EJ

Sort Code 60-60-06 Account Number 87270080

Name (print): …………………………………………………………………...............

Account Name: ….……………………………………………………………….

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Signature:…………………………………………………Date:…………...…………..…

Please return completed forms (or direct any queries) to:Mr. Matthew Beamish,

Hon. Membership Secretary,LAHS, c/o ULAS,

School of Archaeology and Ancient History,University of Leicester, University Road,

Leicester LE1 7RHTel 0116 2525234 Email mgb3@le.ac.uk

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17

News from the Society’s LibraryAUBREY STEVENSON, HON LIBRARIAN

ASSOCIATED ARCHITECTURALSOCIETIES - Reports and Papers

Further to the item in this piece in LAHS NEWS-LETTER 84 Autumn 2011 p.4, I should bring tothe attention of those who need to know a rele-vant article:Papers relating to Leicestershire published inReports and Papers of the Associated Architec-tural Societies 1877 – 1931, by Jack Simmonsin Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeolog-ical and Historical Society Vol. 28 1952 p.84 –88. Note that Vol. 28 has long been out of printbut is now available online at the Society’s web-site www.le.ac.uk/lahs

RICHARD III

King Richard’s grave in Leicester, by David Bald-win was published in Transactions Vol. 60 1986p. 21 – 24. There are still a few copies available topurchase from the Library at regular openingtimes at a bargain price of £4.00.

VICTORIA COUNTY HISTORY

We are grateful to the Leicestershire VictoriaCounty History Trust for a copy of each issue ofLeicestershire VCH News published to date andthe promise of future copies:Vol.1 issue 1 Autumn 2010; 1.2 Summer 2011;1.3 Summer 2012.To find out more about the Trust’s work, seewww.victoriacountyhistory.ac.uk/leicestershire

ACQUISITIONSBooks and Pamphlets

ARGUILE, R. A church in a landscape: ahistory of South Creake church. 2011.

BROOKS, J. & THE ROTHLEY HISTORYSOCIETY The changing face of Rothley: thestory of steady development from 1780 to 2012.Part 1: From 1780 to the 1930sPart 2: From the 1950s to 2012.2012. 2v. Attractively and extensively illus. b &w/col. Plans

BROWN, C. A blessing to the town: 150 yearsof Vaughan College, Leicester. 2012.The author is Reviews Editor of the Leicester-shire Historian.. See Page 2 of this Newsletter.

BUTT, S. Leicestershire through time. 2012.

BUTT, S. Melton Mowbray through time. 2012The author is the Hon. Secretary of the Society.

CHARLEY HERITAGE GROUP World WarII in Charley: Charnwood’s hidden parish. 2009.

CRAM, L. Harby St. Mary’s church an historicalguide. 2012.

DAVEY, B & WHEELER, R. eds. The countryjustice and the case of the Blackamoor’s Head:the practice of the law in Lincolnshire 1787 –1838. 2012. ( Lincs. Record Society 102 ).

DUNHAM, W. Lord Hastings’ indenturedretainers 1461 – 1483: the lawfulness of liveryand retaining under the Yorkists and Tudors.( Trans. of the Connecticut Academy of Arts andSciences 39. Sept. 1955 )We are particularly grateful for the kind donationof this rather fugitive publication.

GODDARD, J. & GARRATT, C. The enchant-ed village: Newton Harcourt. 2012.

INGRAM, M. Bosworth 1485. 2012

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JENKINS, J. The burning question: the strugglefor women’s suffrage in Leicestershire. [ 2012 ].

JENKINS, R. & RYAN, J. Leicestershire pastand present. 2012.Mr. Jenkins is a member of the Society’s Com-mittee.

LEICESTER UNIVERSITY Leicester faithtrail. 2nd ed. [2012]

LOUNT, B. & SPURR, R. Drink and damna-tion: a light-hearted look at Leicester’s drinkingdens. 2012. ( extensively illustrated )

MILLER, C. A degree of swing : lessons in thefacts of life; Leicester 1958-64. 2012.

Nostalgic Leicester. 2012.

PORTER, P. Kibworth to Smeeton: a strolldown memory lane III. rev.3rd ed. 2008.

PRITCHETT, A. We will remember them: theroll of the fallen in two World Wars, BroughtonAstley... 2002.

SCOTT, P. St. Philip’s church Leicester anillustrated history. [2009]

THOMPSON, M. ed. When we were young:wartime memories of Countesthorpe and be-yond. 2011.

WALKER, P. ed. We are South Highfields: lifein our area, past and present. 2012.

WESSEL, C. LOROS celebrating 25 yearshelping others. 2012.The author is the Society’s Networks ProjectCo-ordinator.

Periodicals

Antiquaries Journal 2012

Architectural History 2012

Birmingham and Warwickshire ArchaeologicalSociety 2011

Cambridge Antiquarian Society Proceedings2012

Derbyshire Archaeological Journal 2012

Ecclesiology Today 46 July 2012 ( donated bymember Ian Stevens ) includes: British churchsites on the WWW. The article highlights onlineresources by county, e.g.www.leicestershirechurches.co.uk )

English Place-Name Society Journal 2011

Harborough Historian 29 Oct. 2012 ( donatedby Dr. L. Holden ) includes: Hallaton helmet; SirRichard Roberts; Aldwinkle’s Yard in 1809.

Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Soci-ety Transactions 86 2012

Leicestershire Historian 48 2012

LIBRARY CLOSURE

Please note that the Library will not be openon Whitsunday 19 May 2013.

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LIBRARY BORROWERS

This is a gentle reminder to any members whostill have items on loan that they have had forsome considerable time. Please return them atyour convenience for stock-taking and re-cata-loguing.

If you are uncertain whether you have any of theSociety’s property now buried in your bookcaseplease contact me. I know who you are ! Thesociety has never had loan periods or chargedoverdue fines but members can be deprived ofresearch material if loans are kept too long byothers. I do not want to publicly ‘name andshame’. Thank you for your consideration.

Hinckley Historian 67 Summer 2011 – 70Winter 2012 ( donated by Mr. P. Lindley )Issue 69 includes: Archaeological field survey ofFosse Meadows near High Cross.Hinckley Local History Group has merged withHinckley & District Museum, so Hinckley Histo-rian will become the journal of the Museum andcontinue to be published twice a year

Historical Research 229 Aug. 2012 – 231 Feb.2013

Medieval Archaeology 2012

Rutland Record 32 2012 annual journal of theRutland Local History & Record Society, RutlandCounty Museum, Oakham. 48p. illus.Includes: William Henry Fox Talbot and Rutland;Oakham School’s Masters and Ushers 1584 –1875.

Society of Antiquaries of Scotland Proceedings141 2011 (pub. 2012)

SPAB Magazine Aut. 2012; Wint. 2012 ( previ-ously Cornerstone )

The Searcher: the journal of the Record Officefor Leicestershire, Leicester, and Rutland 3Sum.2012 History of Sport.

Worcestershire Archaeological Society Transac-tions 2012

Newsletters (current copies only)

Ancient Monuments Society Newsletter.Friends of Friendless Churches Report.Friends of Welford Road Cemetery LeicesterNewsletter.Lincoln Record Society News Review ANDReport.Society of Architectural Historians of GreatBritain Newsletter.SPAB Newsletter.Worcestershire Recorder.

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Measured by the SoulSTEPHEN BUTT

The book includes a substantial number of ap-pendices including an article by the surgeon SirFrederick Treves, a letter to The Times by Fran-cis Carr-Gomm, Governor of the London Hos-pital, and detailed family genealogy records.

The book has been published by the Friends ofJoseph Carey Merrick by the print-on-demandprocess, and is available from various onlinebooksellers priced £14.83 or less. All proceedsfrom the book are being donated to ProteusSyndrome Research

The first new biography for over thirty yearsof Joseph Carey Merrick, the so-called ‘Ele-phant Man’ was published at the beginningof 2013.

This new volume has been written by JeanetteSitton and Mae Siu-Wai Stroshane who cam-paign actively for better recognition of the disor-der which affected Merrick, now known to havebeen Proteus Syndrome. Although the book isin part a means of supporting those who copewith the illness - there is, for instance, an appen-dix titled What is Proteous Syndrome? - it alsocontains a wealth of new information aboutMerrick and his family which has come to lightsince Michael Howell and Peter Ford’s well-known biography, first published in 1980, whichwas the basis for the popular film that starredJohn Hurt.

Much of the new ‘on the ground’ research hasbeen undertaken by Jeannette Sitton who found-ed the Friends of Joseph Carey Merrick websitein 1993. Although the principal events in Mer-rick’s life are well-known and documented, theauthors’ research over many years has foundmore information about the Merrick and Potter-ton families as well as tracing memorials to bothfamilies in Welford Road and Belgrave cemeter-ies.

“ A man whose never-ending quest for humandignity touched thehearts of those whocame to know him.”JEANNETTE SITTONMEASURED BY THE SOULFoJCM, 2012

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Dr Ian Keil,1933-2012ANNE TARVER

Ian was born at Streatham Hill in south Londonon 11th September 1933, the only son of Harryand Lillian Keil. The family moved to Warmin-ster in Wiltshire in the autumn of 1938. Ianbegan school the following April, attending thevillage school. He passed the 11-plus examina-tion in 1944 and attended the High School forBoys in Trowbridge. The history master at theschool, Herbert Lambert, encouraged Ian’s inter-ests in history and archaeology, and the Head-master, Geoffrey Bucknall, remained a frienduntil his death.

Ian won the T.H. Green Open Scholarship atBristol University. Green supported humanistpolicies that appealed strongly to Ian, who thenunderwent an oral examination by David Doug-las. The Professor of History asked which sidehe would have supported in the Civil War. Ianimmediately replied, ‘Roundhead’, explaining thatOliver Cromwell’s toleration, both religious andracial, of the Jews was to be commended. It isperhaps as well that Ian was not aware of theProfessor’s enthusiastic support for the monar-chy of the period!

Bristol University was a revelation in manyways, teaching Ian to think in wider terms thanhad been taught in secondary school. During hisperiod at Bristol he stayed in Wills Hall and livedamongst men who became lifelong friends. Hegraduated in 1955 and his scholarship was ex-tended, so that he could continue with a study of‘The Estates of Glastonbury Abbey in the latermiddle ages’, culminating in the award of a PhDin 1964. His research through manorial accountrolls led to several fascinating discoveries includ-ing an account of building a windmill and asurvey of the Abbot’s three-acre garden.

In 1957 Ian obtained a job at Liverpool Univer-sity as Tutor in Economic History, seeing life thatwas very different from that in a city like Bristol.He met Teresa, who was then working in thedepartment of Social Sciences, housed in theformer Bishop’s Palace. Her work involved in-dustrial concerns on Merseyside, with the occa-sional excursion to Bakewell, Chester andRufford Old Hall.

Ian and Teresa were married when he obtained asecure job at Loughborough College of Technol-ogy in April 1962. They enjoyed a long andhappy marriage and continued to support Histor-ical Studies at Bristol, both believing that theexperience of university life should be availableto others. Ian’s work at Loughborough com-bined teaching Liberal Studies and tutoring in thebrand new Royce Hall. The tutor’s accommoda-tion was the height of luxury, a centrally-heatedflat. Teaching facilities were a different matter –another colleague, John Angus, joined the depart-ment and Ian and John were allotted a room atthe end of a hut, containing a single item offurniture - a well-used dentist’s chair.

Loughborough was upgraded to a University in1966 and the new head of department ProfessorCherns requested Ian to assist him to devisedegree courses that would provide room forexpansion. Two years later one of the new staffappointed was Teresa who had been working atAston University. He continued to teach atLoughborough, first as Lecturer and then asSenior Lecturer until his retirement in 1990. Hesat on numerous University Committees, Counciland Senate, and acted as Secretary to the Associ-ation of University Teachers.

During his period of teaching history at Lough-borough he became interested in the sources forlocal history. This interest continued to developand he played a large part in the writing andpromotion of local history in Loughborough andthe surrounding area. Loughborough is a typicalMidland town, predominantly red-brick housingwith very few historic buildings, whose historyhad seldom been explored in any depth. In 1998Ian compiled a book, ‘Loughborough Past andPresent’ with Wallace Humphrey and Don Wix.This small Ladybird volume sold 10,000 copies inthe first week that it was issued, demonstratingthe local need for such publications.

In the community Ian was involved with anumber of organisations. He played an active rolein the community as Honorary President of theLoughborough and District Archaeological

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Society from 1997 until his death in October 2012.

● President of the Civic Trust.● Patron of the History of Advertising

Trust.● Served on the Committee of the Friends

of Charnwood Museum from its incep-tion until 2009.

● Served as a Member of the Local StudiesVolunteer Group of Loughborough Pub-lic Library.

He was also involved in the Town Team thathelped the council to produce a Masterplan forthe future of the Town.

His publications on the town and its locality, aswell as organisations that worked within it includ-ing, ‘The First Three Hundred Years: History ofRawlins School, with Don Wix in 1992 and thehistory of the Amateur Swimming Associationwith Don Wix in 1996. He contributed 50 entriesto the ‘Oxford Companion to British History,edited by J. Cannon in 1997.

He published several volumes of old photo-graphs including the areas of Charnwood Forest;Bygone Quorn; the River Soar and Charnwood’sSilver Jubilee, 1974-1999 with Don Wix. His twomost important contributions to the History ofLoughborough included, ‘Loughborough 1888-1988, Birth of a Borough’, with W. Humphrey,M.L. Walters and D. Wix and ‘Dispensary to

Hospital, Loughborough Hospital from 1819 to2003’, with members of the Archaeological andHistorical Society, including John Brownlow,George Lowe, Janet Slatter and Don Wix, pub-lished in 2006.

Ian was a gentleman in the truest sense of theword. His research skills and wide historicalknowledge were brought to bear on the local area.He always had a good word for everyone andencouraged everyone to take an interest in historyand archaeology. His advice was always of thebest, constructive and sympathetic, and his gentlesense of humour was always appreciated.

Professor Ronald Hutton of the arts departmentat Bristol paid tribute to Ian, commenting on his‘love of history, as a medievalist, and for hisaffection for its teaching at Bristol, by makingdonations to assist post-graduate research stu-dents. We have lost a true friend, the departmentwhich has become become accustomed to drink-ing his health now raises a glass to him and hiswife Teresa who survives him’.

Ian was a Humanist who planned his ownfuneral and wrote the celebration of his lifehimself. He quoted Geoffrey Chaucer’s descrip-tion of The Clerk of Oxford in his prologue tothe Canterbury Tales, ‘And gladly would helearne, and gladly teche’. This Ian did, withinfectious enthusiasm to the benefit of the Uni-versity and the town of Loughborough.

The Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society 1855-2005By Robert A. Rutland 2006

Produced to mark the 150th anniversary of the Society. Members canpurchase a copy at £12 (plus £3 post and packing in the UK).Non-members can purchase a copy at £18 (plus £3 post and packing inthe UK)

Paperback, 227 pages, 77 illustrations.

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Rutland’s Phoenix: The Archives of theNoel Family of Exton Park, RutlandRACHAEL MARSAY, PROJECT ARCHIVIST, ROLLR

The extensive archives of the Noel Family(Earls of Gainsborough) of Exton Park, Rut-land held at the Record Office for Leicester-shire, Leicester and Rutland are now fullycatalogued.

These records were created and collected by theNoel family in the course of building up andadministering their estates in Rutland,Leicestershire, Gloucestershire, Kent, Middlesexand Ireland.

The records vividly depict how landscapes andcommunities have changed and evolvedover the centuries. The collection includesmanorial court rolls, deeds, rentals, accounts,surveys, plans, tenancy documents,correspondence and legal papers, as well as pre-Reformation ecclesiastical and monasticdocuments.

Many records in the collection are of a morepersonal nature including papers relating to localpolitics; official, military or naval careers; businessventures and literary pursuits. The records chartthe history of the Noel family, revealing their linksto the broader social arena and wider world: storiesof success, love and tragedy are all found in thecollection.

If you would like to learn more about the collection, visit theProject Page (under ‘Exhibitions and Events’) on the RecordOffice website at www.leics.gov.uk/record_office.htm

Any queries can be emailed to recordoffice@leics.gov.ukThe Record Office for Leicestershire, Leicester & Rutland,Long Street, Wigston Magna, Leicestershire, LE18 2AH

The project, funded by the National CataloguingGrants Programme (2010), has enabled the pro-duction of an online catalogue of the Noel FamilyArchives containing over 12,600 entries, eachdescribing one or more records in the collection.

The catalogue will be launched at a major eventat the Record Office in the summer of 2013.There will also be a touring exhibition celebratingthe project and collection that will be displayed atthe Rutland County Museum and at the RecordOffice in Wigston.

The collection contains a wealth of recordsdating from the 1130s to the 20th century.

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Project Gargoyle:8000 more ‘mug shots’ neededBOB TRUBSHAW

During last summer, while most of us wereabsorbed by the Olympics or staying at homedodging the showers, an ever-increasingnumber of photographers were out and aboutsneaking up on unsuspecting gargoyles andother medieval carvings in Leicestershire andRutland.

Indeed, so many of them were out and aboutthat we now think at least one-fifth of all thesecarvings have now been carefully recorded.

With all that effort, why only one-fifth? Well,truth to tell, no one actually knows yet how manymedieval carvings there are in Leicestershire andRutland – there are so many nobody has evertried to count them all. But as nearly one-fifth ofthe churches have been recorded – and thatincludes some of the ones with lots of suchcarvings – then the best guess is that there aboutten thousand carvings in total. So that only leavesabout eight thousand left to be shot!

‘This wealth of medieval art has never beenproperly looked at before,’ according to BobTrubshaw, who is the Volunteer Co-ordinator

for Project Gargoyle, which was set up in 2009 byLeicestershire County Council. ‘No-one has triedto record all these medieval carvings in a wholecounty previously. So what the volunteer photog-raphers are doing is a pioneering effort.

Once the database of photographs is more-or-lesscomplete then all sorts of researchers can ask ques-tions about these carvings – and hopefully getsome interesting answers – in a way that has neverbeen possible until now.’

The current team of hard-working volunteers is,however, looking for new recruits who have digitalSLR cameras suitable for dealing with the challeng-es of recording these sculptures – which are oftenhigh up and sometimes in dark corners.

Further information is available on line at:www.leics.gov.uk/gargoyle

The Society’s Project Gargoyle representativeis Dr Jill Bourne

.

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ULAS Brief summaries of currentprojects

Higham on the Hill, MIRA test track con-trol tower (Andy Hyam)A photographic survey of the former RAFNuneaton (Lindley) airfield watch tower wasundertaken. The airfield opened in 1943 as anOperational Training Unit and was in use untillate 1945. The watch tower was built to a stand-ard 1941 Air Ministry design but has later 1943modifications such as having some smaller win-dows for blast protection. The rooftop visualcontrol room is a modern structure which re-placed the old one which was given to RAFDuxford and can still be seen in use there. Untilrecently the tower has functioned as the MotorIndustry Research Establishment (MIRA) testtrack control tower but a new purpose-builtstructure has replaced it. The building now facesdemolition.

Leicester, Western Road (Mathew Morris)Work has now been completed to exhume theremaining skeletons on Western Road, bringingthe total assemblage (excavated over two years)to fifty-eight burials. This is probably still only aminute percentage of the population of this Ro-mano-British cemetery in the vicinity of theFosse Way on its approach to Leicester from thesouth-west, via the crossing point of the riverSoar at West Bridge. The possibility that theremight also be Anglo-Saxon remains in the vicinityled to a program of radiocarbon dating of the

The star grave, in terms of grave goods (below -the skeleton itself was badly truncated), con-tained three pottery vessels, four bangles & aglass hairpin, all placed beside the person’s rightleg; whilst they were also wearing hobnailedshoes and a chain-link necklace.

burials. However, this indicated that they wereall roman, with dates of cal AD 78-127; cal AD132-214; cal AD 230-324; cal AD 274-334; calAD 282-324 and cal AD 328-389.

Burial traditions in the assemblage proved to bediverse, with orientations varying from north-south through to east-west. In general, whererelationships survived, the east-west graves weretypically later than the north-south graves. Manywere buried in coffins, some with grave goodsincluding pottery, hobnailed shoes, jewellery(beads, brooches, bangles) and one with a smallglass vessel. Seven of the skeletons were foundto have been buried prone and one had beendecapitated (below). No cremations were found.

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Measham, Minorca (Wayne Jarvis)A probable Saxon ‘fire pit’ was located during awatching brief with good evidence for its con-struction. It lay close to Saxon features, includingsunken featured buildings and ditches revealed bytrial trenching, suggesting (if it is contemporary)that it probably dates to the early-mid Anglo-Saxon period.

The trenches at Billesdon, early morning, lookingsouth-east

At the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Eye Kettlebynear Melton (Excavated 1996-7 by our lecturesecretary, Neil Finn), similar fire pits were foundin association with Anglo-Saxon Halls and sunk-en featured buildings. It is thought that theywere used for cooking, the stones being heated ina fire, then laid in a pit with joints of meat andcovered over with vegetation and soil.

Fire pit, probably early-mid Anglo-Saxon, at Measham surface mine (open-cast)

Billesdon, Gaulby Road (Leon Hunt)This was a 12 trench evaluation on the outskirtsof Billesdon, during a rather cold/wet snap justbefore Christmas, which turned into a 7 trenchevaluation as the southern part of the sloping sitewas largely underwater.

Previously, a geophysical survey had highlighteda number of quite obvious linear features, inter-preted as ‘Iron Age/Romano-British field sys-tems’ and this was confirmed in the trenches,most of which revealed archaeological features,including several ditches, gullies and a couple ofpits, with a small assemblage of Romano-Britishpottery. The field contained the outlying enclo-sures of a Romano-British settlement, with thefocus possibly under the village core to the east.

Ice and rain made the work really hard going,with struggling machines, stuck 4 x 4s, trenches1m deep in water, pump not arriving and digitalcameras failing.

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Inclined towards ConservationTHE FOXTON INCLINED PLANE TRUST

The Foxton Inclined Plane Trust (FIPT) is aRegistered Charity run by volunteers drawnfrom its membership. FIPT runs the FoxtonCanal Museum which is also the Trust’sheadquarters.

Foxton Locks are at the centre of Britain'sinland waterways network. The locks at Foxtonand Watford Gap were constructed with a widthof only seven feet in order to save water. In 1900,the Foxton Inclined Plane Boat Lift was openedto widen the canal, speed up traffic and savewater. The Lift is a unique piece in the jigsaw ofboat lift and canal history. Times have changedand, with modern traffic, it is time to restore thelift, this time for holiday boats rather than com-mercial carriers.

The Foxton Inclined Plane Trust was foundedin March 1980 and, since then, volunteers havebeen working hard on the site. An early aim wasto reconstruct the former boiler house as a CanalMuseum. This project was completed in 1989.FIPT now has a full-time museum curator, andhas forged excellent links with Leicestershire’sEducation and Museum Services.

Trust volunteers are now tackling the derelictionof the incline site itself and improving publicaccess. working closely with the other membersof the Foxton Locks Partnership.

The Trust's current challenge is to raise the£20,000 which has been pledged as its contribu-tion to to the Master Plan studies needed tosatisfy a wide range of interested bodies includingEnglish Heritage, and British Waterways, that fullrestoration of the lift to working order is feasibleand necessary.

From the Trust’s viewpoint, it is the engineeringstudy which is the most important. This willfollow with the next Lottery bid. However, stud-ies will also be needed to cover other aspects ofrestoration including: environment and wildlifeimpact, visitor numbers, mitigation measures,sustainability, car parking and transport.

To achieve its aims, FIPT works with theFoxton Locks Partnership whose membershipincludes the Old Union Canals Society, BritishWaterways, the Inland Waterways Association,and Local Authorities. The Partnership was re-sponsible for the recently completed, lotteryfunded, restoration works on site.

The £3m lottery project has removed the liftfrom the 'Monuments at Risk' register of EnglishHeritage and made it possible to understand itslayout. The trees have been removed and theroots ground away. Tree growth and the action ofa century of winters has broken the surface con-crete but the lower foundations are still in place.The brickwork has been consolidated using limemortar but none of the lost material has beenreplaced. The top canal arm which led to the lifthas been fully restored and the bottom dock hasbeen dredged, its waterway wall repaired, with thewooden dock reconstructed in oak on the origi-nal foundations.

The lift will be maintained in this state until wehave raised the money and gained the necessarypermissions for full restoration.

www.fipt.org.uk

Published 2013 by the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society, The Guildhall, Leicester LE1 5FQDistributed free to all members.

© 2013 the Society and respective authors.Previous issues may be download from the Society’s website - www..le.ac.uk/lahs.

The Editor welcomes contributions and comments from members and non-members.email - lahs@stephenbutt.co.uk

www.le.ac.uk/lahs